Sustainability - Scientists call for rethink on consumption, population - REUTERS
Scientists call for rethink on consumption, population - Reuters
April 25, 2012
Here's a wonderful study that I believe should be taken seriously and implemented worldwide - including in the USA & Canada.
(Reuters) - Scientists have
called for a radical rethink of our relationship with the planet to head off
what they warn could be economic and environmental catastrophe.
In a report published on Thursday
by the London-based Royal Society, an international group of 23 scientists
chaired by Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston called for a rebalancing of
consumption in favor of poor countries coupled with increased efforts to
control population growth to lift the estimated 1.3 billion people living on
less than $1.25 a day out of poverty.
"Over the next 30-40 years
the confluence of the challenges described in this report provides the
opportunity to move towards a sustainable economy and a better world for the
majority of humanity, or alternatively the risk of social, economic and
environmental failures and catastrophes on a scale never imagined," the
scientists said.
The 133-page report, which
Sulston describes as a summary of work done over the last two years, comes
against a backdrop of austerity-hit governments reducing subsidies for
renewable energy, global car companies falling over themselves to meet demand
for new cars in rapidly growing economies like China and Brazil,
and increasing pressure to exploit vast reserves of gas locked in rocks around
the globe through the controversial process known as ‘fracking'.
But the scientists insist the
goals in the report are realistic. They argue lifestyle choices, human volition
and incentives enshrined in government policy can make a significant difference
to patterns of consumption.
They cite the growing appetite
for recycling in the developed world, Britain's policy-driven switch to
lead-free fuel in the 1980s, and the seemingly prosaic example of air traffic
control as examples of where international cooperation can work.
Sulston said governments realized
quickly that the consequences of not managing air traffic could be
catastrophic: "They said 'this is dangerous; we've got to
cooperate'."
The scientists say developed and
emerging economies should stabilize and then start reducing their consumption
of materials by increased efficiency, waste reduction and more investment in
sustainable resources.
Carbon dioxide emissions are 10
to 50 times higher in rich countries compared to poor nations, they say. Rising
greenhouse gas emissions are almost certainly responsible for increasing global
average temperatures, leading to rising sea levels and more extreme weather,
climate scientists say.
Voluntary programs to reduce
birth rates, education for young women and better access to contraception
urgently need political leadership and financial support.
Professor Sarah Harper of Oxford
University, another of the authors, said the issue of population had fallen off
the development agenda in the last 10-15 years but it should be reinstated and
coupled closely with environmental challenges, starting at the Rio+20 United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio in June.
WANTED: BRAVE POLITICIANS
The trend to urbanization remains
intact. Some 50 percent of the world's population, which surpassed 7 billion
last year, is living in cities. The world's population is forecast to rise to
10 billion before flattening off and the urban proportion is forecast to
increase to 75 percent by the end of the century.
Eliya Msiyaphazi Zulu, a report
author and Executive Director of the African Institute for Development Policy
research group, said the need for education about family planning and improved
access to contraception was most acute in Africa, which is forecast to
contribute 70 percent of the average population growth.
He said all the evidence points
to African women wanting fewer children and argued the main reason for high
fertility in a country like Niger was the fact that half of all women are
married at the age of 16.
The scientists also supported
growing calls for a revision in how we measure economic growth. "We are
extremely wedded to the idea that GDP increases are a good thing," said
Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex
and another of the authors.
He argued that GDP measures many
of the ‘bads' in terms of the well-being of the planet as well as the ‘goods',
adding: "There is an urgent need for policy change."
The scientists present some
startling statistics. A child from the developed world consumes 30-50 times as
much water as one from the developing world. Global average consumption of
calories increased about 15 percent between 1969 and 2005, but in 2010 almost 1
billion people did not get their minimum calorie needs.
Minerals production rocketed in
the 47 years up to 2007; copper, lead and lithium about fourfold and
tantalum/niobium, used in electronic gadgets, by about 77 times.
For developed countries, Sulston
said the message of the report boils down to something quite simple: "You
don't have to be consuming as much to have a healthy and happy life".
But will politicians and
consumers respond?
"It is a brave politician
who is prepared to tell Western consumers to consume less to let the developing
world consume more," said Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City
University in London. "But we need such bravery now, urgently."
Lang, who was not involved in the
study, welcomed it saying: "The West over- and mal-consumes its way to
diet-related ill-health from a diet with a high environmental impact. The
evidence is there but will politicians and consumers listen and change?"
Labels: Behavior, Carbon, Climate Change, Common Sense, Consumption, Developing Nations, Emissions, Environment, Green, Growth, Industrialized world, leadership, Lifestyle, Living, Vision, World
posted by Vikram R Chari @ 7:31 PM
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